


Let the Love Light Guide You Home

by Survivingltgs



Series: Light [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, The Dark Castle (Once Upon a Time)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:08:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29466276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Survivingltgs/pseuds/Survivingltgs
Summary: When a binding spell goes wrong, Belle has to find her way home.
Relationships: Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold
Series: Light [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2164368
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Let the Love Light Guide You Home

**Author's Note:**

> Title was taken from the song Skin and Bones by Cage the Elephant - the plot coming while listening to it.  
> This one was not the easiest to finish but it got done. My mistakes are my own.

Rumpelstiltskin hated having Belle in his tower while he was working with his magic, it was dangerous, no place for his true love. They came to a new understanding after Belle returned to the castle, after the kiss and fell into a pleasant routine. They spent as much time together as they could, but Rumpel was growing weary of the distance between them; he longed to kiss her. That is why he had her in his tower now. He was working on a binding spell that would protect his powers but allowed them to kiss.

“Now, a strand of your hair,” Rumpel said as he reached up to her head. He stopped himself short. He was so used to taking what he wanted, but not with Belle, never with her, he wanted her to give her stand to him willingly, which of course she did. She plucked and strand and handed it over. 

Rumpel dropped the strand in the green potion, BAM! There was an explosion. Rumpel was thrown against the wall and lost consciousness immediately. He came to only moments later, blinking his eyes rapidly to clear the stars he saw. He looked around, his eyes darting over the wrecked room. Debris lay everywhere, the ceiling had caved in. 

“BELLE!” he shouted, rising to his feet, frantically searching for her, “Belle! Belle!” he continued to call out as he moved around the room. He took a deep breath and willed himself to calm down. She had a protection spell, no bodily harm should come to her. But seeing the damage around the room had him worried, no mortal human would have survived that blast. Rumpel stilled his breath, he opened his senses, listening for the sound of life, nothing. He sent out feelers of magic, sure he would locate Belle in an instant. His magic fizzled in his hands. Something had gone terribly wrong. 

  
  
  


Belle was a drift, her mind in a haze as darkness surrounded her. What happened? She thought. She couldn’t tell which way was up and which way was down. Magic, she thought, the memories slowly coming back to her, a small spot on her head tingling as she remembered plucking a stand of hair. A spell, a binding spell. She blinked her eyes, but she remained in darkness. She felt panic rise up in her gut and held her eyes wide open, but still saw nothing; her sight was gone. Belle's heart leapt in her chest.

“Rumpel!” she cried out, her voice wavering. She heard no reply. 

Rumpelstiltskin, Rumpelstiltskin, Rumpelstiltskin,” she cried out his name in quick succession, knowing he would be compelled to come. She waited, her arms crossed, but still nothing. Something was wrong, she thought. 

She listened intently to her surroundings and her hands felt around her. She could hear birds, and her hands wove themselves through blades of grass. How did she get outside? Where outside was she? Her panic increased and she felt bile rise in her throat. She had no idea where she was and she couldn’t see. 

She slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position, realizing she had been laying down. Her head spun at the motion. She ran her hands over her body, feeling for any injuries. Everything felt good. She tentatively moved each joint, surprised to find everything in working order. She turned her head side to side, and noticed a small pinprick of light in her vision. The light undulated with the movement of her head. To the right it grew brighter, to the left it faded away. Maybe that meant something, she thought. She turned to the right and took a few steps forward, the light grew nearly imperceptible brighter, she could feel it grow stronger. Okay, she thought, that was a good sign right? It was leading her somewhere. She just hoped it was leading her home. She took a couple more tentative steps forward, slowly gaining momentum until she ran face first into a tree.

“Ouch!,” she cried out. A blue jay cried out in laughter. Belle thought it would be a long walk. She started out again, her hands out in front of her ready for her next encounter. 

It seemed like she had been inching along for hours before she hit a rut that felt like a road. She knew it was not a good idea for a lone woman in the best of states to be wandering the road alone, but she couldn’t bring herself to go back in the forest, not after her last trip over a tree root left her tangled and unable to get up on her first dozen tries. She inched down the road, heading towards the light she saw, her ears straining for any sign of human life. 

Rumpelstiltskin has searched through the entire castle and moved on to the grounds surrounding it. His mind was racing, wondering how his spell had gone so wrong. His search was futile, she wasn’t on his grounds. He made his way back to his wrecked tower, maybe he could find answers there. He pulled his notes and books together, thumbing through his translations. FUCK, he thought as he noticed a smear of ink, Blinding Spell, not Binding spell. His thoughts tumbled around his head for a moment before he realized, he wasn’t blind. That meant…..Double Fuck. He had no idea where Belle was, and a fear that she may not be able to see. He threw himself deeper in his books, he needed to find a spell to fix this, and fast. 

Belle was making her way back to the light, one foot in front of the other, she thought to herself. She heard a horse coming up behind her. She tried to move to the side of the road, but tripped on the ground. 

“Ho, there!” a voice shouted. The sound of hoofbeats were nearly on top of her. “Are you alright?” 

“I am fine,” she said, brushing off her skirts.

“May I escort you to your destination? A woman traveling alone can be in great danger,” the voice sounded loud, booming, and worse, familiar. 

“No, no,” Belle said quickly, “I can assure you I am just fine, thank you.” Belle tried to sound strong and brave, but that vision quickly failed as she tripped on yet another rock and took a tumble.

“Please, my Lady,” the voice said as Belle heard a thud, he had gotten off his horse, “You are not well.” Belle could feel the large presence at her side, a firm hand grasped her arm and spun her to look at him. 

“Belle! You are free?” the voice said surprised. 

“Gaston, I am fine, please leave me be,” Belle said as she tried tugging her arm away from the brute. 

“How did you get away? I will take you back to your father, your home!” Gaston was getting excited, she could hear it in his voice. She knew how that would go, he would say he bested the beast. 

“No Gaston, I have to get back to the castle!” Belle pleaded, she could feel bruises starting where he gripped her tight. 

“Fine, allow me,” Gaston gasped her tight and suddenly Belle was being manhandled on top of a horse. 

“Let me go!” Belle was kicking and screaming. She could see the light in her view fading, they were going the wrong way. “Gaston! Stop! Let me go at once!” 

“I will save you from that Beast,” Gastoe roared.

“Gaston, I need to go back to him. I love him!” Belle cried with tears streaming down her face. Gaston stopped abruptly.

“You what? What magic is he using on you?” Gaston said.

“None! Gaston let me go!” Belle pleaded, she started thrashing around. The horse did not appreciate the moment and she could feel him getting antsy. She turned her attention to irritating the horse. Belle started poking and prodding the horse, she finally gave one good pinch and felt the beast rear up, Gaston struggled to keep a hold but with Belle’s additional weight, they both went tumbling off the back. Belle heard a sickening thud, then landed on top of Gaston. He was oddly still, she couldn’t feel much movement under herself. Maybe he’s just knocked out, she hoped. 

She got up quickly, hearing annoyed stomping next to her, she knew the horse was still close. She reached out her hands, searching for fur. 

“Shhh,” she whispered as she got closer, “I know I was pestering you, but I needed to. Can we please be friends?” She whispered softly to the horse, and surprisingly he didn’t move away. 

She felt around for the reins, finally finding both and slowly made her way and mounted the horse. It had been awhile since she had ridden, and she had never ridden blind before. She took a few moments to adjust to being on top of the horse, then tentatively gave a little leg. The horse moved forward. She moved in large circles, gaining her confidence and bearing on the light. She found where it was strongest and urged the horse forward. They rode quietly for a while, the light growing ever stronger, until the light moved to her left. She was worried about having to make turns, how was she supposed to know where the road went. She worried about having to trek through the woods, worried the horse wouldn’t go. 

Thankfully, a little leg and a soft tug on the reins and the horse turned left, maybe they were at a crossroads. Her journey continued one, the light growing ever stronger. It seemed like hours before she heard the horses' hoofbeats changed from a soft plop in the soft earth to a heavier ting as they hit cobblestone. The light was much brighter now and moved in short, sporadic bursts, just out of reach. 

The horse came to a stop and Belle carefully dismounted, her feet landing firmly on the stones below her. She slowly shuffled her way forward, towards the light until her feet hit something hard and she fell to her hands. She was at a set of stairs, the Dark Castle’s stairs if she guessed correctly. The light was growing even stronger, but seemed blocked by something.

“Rumple,” Belle cried out. She heard the door open and feet rushing towards her, the light was so strong she thought if she couldn’t already see she would be blind. The light danced back and forth, it wouldn’t stop moving, she knew that pattern.

“Belle, are you alright?” Rumpel asked, his hands reaching out for her. “Your sight? Can you see?”   
“No, how did you know?” Belle asked, trying to follow the light as it moved around her.   
“The translation, it was done wrong and they left one letter out of binding spell.” Rumpel admitted quietly.

“Oh,” Belle sighed. “Rumpel,” she said, her hands reaching out in front of her, “I need you to stop moving.” The light stilled in an instant, right in front of her. 

“Belle? How did you get back?” Rumpelstiltskin asked.

“When I woke up, all I could see was a small orb of light, it reached out to me, pulled me back, back to you. I let the love light guide me home, home to you, Rumpel.”

“Oh, Belle,” Rumpel said, his voice low. Belle could feel his breath on her face. His fingers traced her eyebrows and down her face. “You are the light, Belle, not me, I am nothing but Darkness.”

“Rumpel, we are each other’s lights, and we will always find each other, no matter what.” Belle brought her hand up and captured Rumpels. She kissed his hand, then pressed it tight to her chest so he could feel her heartbeat. 

“Belle, you are too good for me, you always will be, but I am too selfish to let you go now.” 

“You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried, Rumple,” Belle said with a light laugh. 

“Let’s fix you up,” Rumpel said, taking Belle in his arms he magicked them away to his town to reverse the damage he had done. Then he would get to work to find a true binding spell.


End file.
